Name

The Surah takes its name from the sentence Dhalika yaum-ut taghabun of
verse 9, thereby implying that it is the Surah in which the word at
taghabun has occurred.

Period of Revelation

Muqatil and Kalbi say that it was partly revealed at Makkah and partly
at Madinah. Hadrat Abdullah bin Abbas and Ata bin Yasar say that vv.
1-13 were revealed at Makkah and vv. 14-18 at Madinah. But the
majority of commentators regard the whole of the surah as a Madinan
Revelation. Although there is no internal evidence to help determine
its exact period of revelation, yet a study of its subject matter
shows that it might probably have been sent down at an early stage at
Madinah. That is why it partly resembles the Makkah surahs and partly
the Madinan Surahs.

Theme and Subject Matter

The theme of this surah is invitation to the Faith and obedience (to
Allah) and the teaching of good morals. The sequence followed is that
the first four verses are addressed to all men; verses 5-10 to those
men, who do not believe in the invitation of the Qur'an; and verses
11-l8 to those who accept and believe in this invitation.

In the
verses addressed to all men, they have been made aware in a few brief
sentences of the four fundamental truths:

First, that the universe in
which they live is not Godless, but its Creator, Master and Ruler is
an All Powerful God, and everything in it testifies to His being most
Perfect and absolutely faultless.

Second, that the universe is not
without purpose and wisdom, but its Creator has created it with truth
no one should be under the delusion that it is a mock show, which
began without a purpose and will come to an end without a purpose.

Third, that the excellent form that God has created you with and the
choice that He has given you to choose between belief and unbelief is
not a useless and meaningless activity so that it may be of no
consequence whether you choose belief or unbelief. In fact, God is
watching as to how you exercise your choice.

Fourth, that you have not
been created irresponsible and un-answerable. You have to return
ultimately to your Creator, and have to meet the Being who is aware of
everything in the universe, from Whom nothing is hidden, to Whom even
the innermost thoughts of the minds are known.

After stating these
four fundamental truths about the Universe and Man, the address turns
to the people who adopted the way of unbelief, and their attention is
drawn to a phenomenon which has persisted throughout human history,
namely that nation after nation has arisen and ultimately gone to its
doom. Man by his intellect and reason has been explaining this
phenomenon in a thousand ways, but Allah tells the real truth and
declares that the fundamental causes of the destruction of the nations
were only two:

First, that they refused to believe in the Messengers
whom He sent for their guidance, with the result that Allah too left
them to themselves, and they invented their own philosophies of life
and went on groping their way from one error to another.

Second, that
they also, rejected the doctrine of Hereafter, and thought this
worldly life to be an end in itself, and that there was no life
hereafter when they would have to render an account of their deeds
before God. This corrupted their whole attitude towards life, and
their impure morals and character so polluted the world that
eventually the scourge of God itself had to descend and eliminate them
from the scene.

After stating these two instructive truths of human
history, the deniers of the message of Truth have been admonished to
wake up and believe in Allah, His Messenger and the Light of Guidance
that Allah has sent in the form of the Qur'an if they want to avoid
the fate met by the former peoples. Besides, they have been warned
that the Day shall eventually come when all the former and the latter
generations will be collected at one place and the fraud and
embezzlement committed by each will be exposed before all mankind.
Then the fate of each man will be decided finally on the basis as to
who had adopted the path of the Faith and righteousness and who had
followed the way of disbelief and denial of the Truth. The first group
shalt deserve eternal Paradise and the second shall be doomed to
everlasting Hell.

Then, addressing those who adopt the way of the
Faith, a few important instructions have been given:

First, that
whatever affliction befalls a person in the world, it befalls him by
Allah's leave. Whoever in this state of affliction remains steadfast
to the Faith, Allah blesses his heart with guidance; otherwise
although the affliction of the one who in confusion or bewilderment
turns away from the path of the Faith, cannot be averted except by
Allah's leave, yet he becomes involved in another, the greatest
affliction of all, namely that his heart is deprived of the guidance
of Allah.

Secondly, that the believer is not required to affirm the
faith with the tongue only, but after the affirmation of the Faith he
should practically obey Allah and His Messenger. If he turns away from
obedience he would himself be responsible for his loss, for the Holy
Messenger of Allah (upon whom be His peace) has become absolved from
the responsibility after having delivered the message of Truth.

Thirdly, that the believer should place his trust in Allah alone and
not in his own power or some other power of the world.

Fourthly, that
the worldly goods and children are a great trial and temptation for
the believer, for it is their love which generally distracts man from
the path of faith and obedience. Therefore, the believers have to
beware some of their children, and wives lest they become robbers for
them on the Way of God directly or indirectly; and they should spend
their wealth for the sake of God so that their self remains safe
against the temptations of Satan.

Fifthly, that every man is
responsible only to the extent of his power and ability. Allah does
not demand that man should exert himself beyond his power and ability.
However, the believer should try his best to live in fear of God as
far as possible, and should see that he does not transgress the bounds
set by Allah in his speech, conduct and dealings through his own
negligence.